The Free and The Fair
by NALU0127
Summary: Natsu the sexy pirate captain who loved to mess with women (but not their bodies) and Lucy the princess who just wanted to be free from her father's iron grip come together by fate. What will come of this duo and will they learn to love, or create trust issues harsher than the ones they already had from past memories?
1. Chapter 1

THE FREE AND THE FAIR

~NORMAL POV~

Lucy was pacing back and forth in her bedroom '_this is the night'_ she thought '_this is the night that I will finally, FINALLY set myself free of his tyranny.'_ She took all of the sheets she had kept and knotted over the months that passed and threw them out the window after securely tying them to her bedpost, only daring to breathe when she saw that it was indeed long enough to reach the ground. She sighed in relief and began to slowly inch her way down. But then she heard it, the yelling telling her she had to move quickly, for her father had become aware she was not in her room. Then they spotted her and she a mere 5 feet from the ground so she jumped and landed with a **THUD** but quickly got up knowing they would be upon her in a matter of minutes. She the princess of the Fiore kingdom, Lucy Heartfilia, was going to be free.

Natsu was just docking his vessel when his first man and trusted friend Gray Fullbuster yelled out "Oi! Are we collecting supplies at this town captain?" "Aye! That we are, then maybe if we're lucky we can stop at a pub before they figure out our intentions!" "Aye captain!" Natsu Dragneel was his name and he was the proud captain of the vessel '**Fairy Tail.'**

She had made it past the bridge without them catching her. '_What idiots, did they not know that I am indeed always one step ahead, they should have seen it coming.'_ She just could not believe that the guards who used to protect her were so utterly...ignorant. She ran down the streets of Fiore and stopped inside the first public building she could find. She had been let out of the castle on special occasions, but only if accompanied by a guard. But now? No, now she was free.

Natsu had gotten the supplies he and his men needed and he had just entered a local pub. He sat down and ordered a pint of beer. Not 5 minutes into his visit someone sat in front of him. Suprised at this he looked up and caught a glimpse of blond hair under a dark cloak. He had yet to hear this strangers voice. '_personally he quite hoped it to be a woman, by the looks of it she could be quite the beauty'_ "Might I ask your name?" The man/woman looked startled and Lucy not knowing she had sat down in front of someone apologized and quickly got up to leave. But she felt a rough hand wrap around her wrist.

"I did not say you had to leave, I asked your name. Would you mind removing the hood as well so I can place a face to that name?" She reluctantly lowered her hood and stared into the man's onyx orbs with her chocolate brown ones. "I'm Lucy, and you are?"

Natsu just sat there dumbfounded. He had imagined with a voice as silky smooth and soft as hers that she would be beautiful, but never in all his life would he imagine this lovely creature standing in front of him. She had beautiful long blond hair that was as bright as the sun and soft chocolate brown orbs that looked as if you could drown yourself in their depths, and her soft looking plump pink lips just added to the effect. This woman was breathtaking.

"Ahem, um sir?" "Oh! Yes I apologize, I am Natsu Dragneel at your service." He gave her a toothy grin that practically took up his whole face. She almost swooned at how handsome he was. He had a boyish yet manly face with dark onyx orbs and tanned skin. But what really got her attention was his pink hair. "Um sir may I ask why your hair is...erm...pink?" "Oi! Its not pink! Its salmon." She almost couldn't hold back her laugh.

"Sir, your hair is most definetly pink..." "NO! its salmon I tell you!" At that point she couldn't take it anymore, she burst out laughing. "Oi, why are you laughing blondie!" At this nickname she abruptly stopped laughing and gave him the scariest glare he had ever seen besides Erza's. "Now now I was, um, just kidding see?" "Never call me blondie, not after I have told you my name _sir_ you would be wise to respect me."

Natsu was taken aback, he had never been talked to in such a way and he couldn't say he particularly liked it. "Now you listen here-" "No _you_ listen I have been around men long enough to know that they like to control women but you will not control me understood no matter how short our time here is." He was stunned. This woman had quite the sharp tongue and was unlike other women he had met.

"Well _Lucy_ may I ask what a beautiful woman like yourself is doing in a filthy pub like this?" She stared at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world then finally replied. "I need safe passage away from this land for reasons that will remain my own and only my own to know." At this he smirked. "Well you've come to the right place, I just so happen to be the captain of the ship Fairy Tail.

Now it was Lucy's turn to be taken aback. She had never anticipated that this beauty of a man would ever be a pirate captain, and ever since he had introduced himself she felt like she could somehow trust him in a way that she did not yet understand. So she said the only thing that would make sense in a situation like this. "Are you implying you will allow me safe passage on your ship?"

To this he smiled wide. "But of course m'lady." With that he got up and held out his hand to her. So of course she took it and walked with him to his ship and away from the land that had kept her prisoner for so very long.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Hi guys, I just wanted to add this to say thank you for sticking with this if you've followed from the first chapter, I know updates are sluggish. But I will start updating more frequently when the story starts to pick up. Anyway thank you for reading and enjoy. **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters so I'll be crying over that now, thanks!**_

As soon as she stepped onto the ship, she was regretting her decision to leave with this Natsu character. The ship seemed to only consist of men. She was _not_ comfortable being on a ship as the only woman. She thought about walking off and looking for another way to get to a different land when she saw Natsu staring at her with the most peculiar expression.

"What is it?" She asked. "Nothing nothing, its just you look as if you've seen a ghost." he commented while smirking. "No, not a ghost, i'm merely suprised by the fact that i'm aboard a ship with so many men, and slightly intimidated I admit." she said while looking down and playing with a stray piece of string on her cloak.

"There's no reason to be afraid. None of these men will hurt you, they are...decent to say the least. You'll be fine here, you have my word." He said with another one of his huge grins. She swore she could melt just seeing it. But what did that mean? She decided to put that thought to the side for now and continued to stand and stare around the ship until Natsu took hold of her arm and started dragging her off to who-knows-where.

"Hey! Where are you taking me?" she scolded. "Ooh just to my sleeping quarters, we have not extra cots in the brig, so you'll be sleeping with me in my bed for now." he stated while grinning like a fool but he was faced away from her so she couldn't see his expression for herself. She stared at him dumbfounded before snapping back to reality. "WHAT?! I am not sleeping with you!" she screeched. He simply chuckled and dragged her into a dark room, where he lit the two oil lamps beside his bed. The bed was covered in red satin sheets and the base was all iron rod. It looked like a kings bed to her.

"Where did you get a bed like this?" she inquired.

"Oh you know. Around."

"Alright then, where will I sleep in here? There doesn't seem to be a cot..."

"Well did I not already tell you? You're sleeping with me."

She immediately went rigid where she was standing. Being in the same room she could manage but the same bed? She didn't think she would get a wink of sleep with this man beside her. She turned around to scold him but found him shirtless and only in his boxers. She squealed and immediately turned around screaming "DON'T YOU THINK YOU SHOULD AT LEAST HAVE SOME PANTS ON?!" He just shrugged and layed down patting the bed beside him. She stood her ground not moving a muscle, refusing to get into a bed with a barely clothed man.

"Oh for the love of-come here!" he got up, wrapped his arms around her waist and carried her over to the bed setting her down and climbing in the other side. Just as she was finished screaming at him for picking up a lady in such an ungraceful manor, she was about to get up but was stopped by an arm around her waist. "You're not going anywhere, I told you that you were sleeping in this bed and you're going to are we clear?"

"What does it matter to you? I'm just a passenger, I'm nobody important." He gave her a look that made her rethink her earlier statement and he wrapped his arm around her waist more tightly. "Natsu?"

"Don't say you're not important. It's not right for a beautiful girl like you to let that thought even cross your mind." She stared at him confused and decided to lay down. She faced away from him of course, but she couldn't get what he said out of her mind as she drifted off into a sleep filled with dreams of pink hair and pirates.

**~The next day~**

Lucy woke up near something warm and firm, she opened her eyes just a little bit and what she saw shocked her into immediate shock. She was curled into Natsu's chest and he had both of his arms around her in a lover's embrace. She quickly and quietly stumbled out of the bed careful not to disturb Natsu, and she fell onto the floor, wondering how in the world that could have happened.

As soon as Natsu felt the warmth of Lucy's body leave him his eyes snapped open. He looked around and finally spotted her sitting on the floor staring wide eyed at him as if she had been scared out of her mind and shocked into a paralyzed state at the same time. He slowly got up and walked over to her, but she didn't move a muscle. He picked her up and she seemed to come back to reality, she was simply thinking about the possible ways that could have happened. What she didn't know was that Natsu had intentionally turned her toward him in the middle of the night and curled her close to him. He had the strangest feeling when she was around him and he didn't know if it was good or bad yet.

She too felt strange around Natsu, though she would never admit it. She was stubborn like that. She allowed him to place her on his lap, because oddly enough it didn't bother her, actually she quite liked being this close to him. She didn't know what this meant, but she would let it go for now.


End file.
